Football Shorts – The Mental Americas
Portsmouth Charge Carlisle For Parking Team Bus
In a very unusual turn of events, Portsmouth charged their visitors £20 to park their team bus in Portsmouth’s car park, leaving Carlisle manager Greg Abbott seething. The charge is said to have been enforced by the club’s administrators rather than Portsmouth themselves.
We’re all aware of Portsmouth’s dire financial straits at the moment, but this sort of thing isn’t going to make or break the club, and it certainly won’t earn them any goodwill.
Estudiantes de Merida requires surgery after team bus attacked
Jesus Quintero was injured by flying glass after a Venezuelan Clausura Championship league game between his club and opponents Llaneros de Guarane after Llaneros fans threw stones at the bus after the game.
Photographs in the local press showed Quintero with cuts to his lips and hands, and a cut around his eye. The operation to repair his eye was a complete success and the 18 year old midfielder is not expected to miss any game time.
The Venezuelan Football Union (AUFP) said the incident was deplorable and said on Twitter:
“We hope that the relevant authorities take action over these type of incidents which continue to stain our football.”
Santos Banned Over Coin-Throwing Incident
The Brazilian giants have been banned from their home stadium for one match after fans launched coins at former player Ganso during the match against Sao Paulo. The Santos fans considered his move to rivals Sao Paulo a massive betrayal, as he was expected to stay at the club or move to Europe.
Indeed, they were so angry at Ganso that during the same game last year (while he was still with Santos) they threw coins at him then! Santos’ representative Joao Gazola played down the incident:
“Nobody wanted to hurt the player. It was a protest by a few people. The coins symbolised discontent, that was all. I hope he is happy at Sao Paulo but Santos are much greater.”
The Confederação Brasileira de Futebol obviously disagreed.
Mexican League Players Fined For Obscene Gestures During Celebrations
Two players in Mexico were fined by the Mexican league after making the same obscene gesture after celebrating scoring in their respective matches.
Panamanian Luis Tejeda of Toluca and Efrain Velarde of UNAM Pumas grabbed their genitals and screamed at the crowd as they stood facing the stands. The Mexican league’s disciplinary committee said in a statement:
“Luis Carlos Tejada and Efrain Velarde are sanctioned with a fine of 2,000 days’ minimum salary for making signs, gestures and showing obscene attitudes towards the public at the Azteca and (Olimpico) Universitario stadiums respectively.”
By my solar-powered calculations (bear in mind I’m Scottish and stay in Scotland, so we don’t get much sun and the calculator may be broken), the Mexican minimum daily salary is 64.50 Pesos. 64.50 times 2000 equals 129,000 Pesos, which works out at just over $10,000.
Maybe Tejeda and Velarde will think again before touching their balls in public.
Ivan Alonso Isn’t Retired Anymore
You’ll like this one…
Ivan left Mexican side Toluca in July last year, retiring due to a heart problem found during a routine check-up. At the time, the Spanish striker told the media:
“I’ve decided not to carry on any more in football, whatever the medical diagnosis. My family have asked me not to play any more. A team mate, Dani Jarque, died in my arms.”
That is totally understandable. The doctors did advise Ivan he could play on, but with this news along with complaints about continually playing at high altitude (Toluca is 2600 metres above sea level), he had obviously made up his mind…or had he?
Alonso in action with Spanish side Espanyol in 2009. Courtesy of Tsutomu Takasu
Clearly not. He moved to Montevideo after ‘retiring’ and joined Uruguayan champions Nacional last month, who had qualified for the Copa Libertadores. By coincidence, in Group 1 of the group stages, Nacional drew…that’s right, Toluca.
Naturally, Alonso played from the start in the Mexican city, and every touch was booed and jeered by the Toluca faithful. To add insult to injury, Alonso only went and scored the winner in the 56th minute as Nacional came back from two goals down to win the match 3-2. Alonso also scored the equaliser in the first game against Ecuador’s Barcelona, so he seems to have gotten over his heart complaint.
Chinese Fake Balls Seized
200,000 counterfeit fake footballs were seized at Santos port last week. The balls are believed to have come from China and included imitations of the Jabulani used at the 2010 World Cup and the Cafusa, the ball that will be used in the Confederations Cup in June.
The Brazilian Inland Revenue Service have ordered the fakes to be destroyed, while no arrests have been made at the time of writing.
Barcelona Aim To Bring Peace To Middle East
Ok, that might be a bit strong. However, the Catalan superstars are planning to arrange a friendly in Tel-Aviv at the end of July against a joint Israeli-Palestinian side.
Will Barca be celebrating in Israel? Courtesy of Shai Pal
While there are a lot of logistical barriers in the way of such a game being hosted in Israel, Barcelona certainly seem keen. Club president Sandro Rosell said:
“Barcelona, wishes to… contribute to the effort to strengthen the bridges of peace and dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. The best way we can do this is with a ball.”
Barcelona hosted a similar peace match at the Nou Camp stadium in 2005, but it remains to be seen if they can manage a similar game in the Middle East.
Corinthians To Play Behind Closed Doors After Fan Death
After their fans were accused of causing the death of San Jose fan Kevin Beltran during a Copa Libertadores match in Bolivia, the club have been sanctioned by CONMEBOL and have been ordered to play their remaining games in the tournament behind closed doors.
A Bolivian prosecutor charged two Corinthians fans with homicide and 10 others of trying to cover up for them after the 14-year-old was killed during San Jose’s 1-1 home draw when a firework was thrown into the home crowd, killing Kevin. Nestor Benitez, spokesman for Conmebol, was quoted by Reuters:
“Corinthians have been sanctioned so that all their home matches are (played) behind closed doors in the Libertadores. In addition, clubs playing at home against Corinthians have been prohibited from selling tickets for Corinthians’ fans. That is to say, their fans won’t be able to see the matches at all.”